Overwatch, will it become an eSport?

If you’ve been keeping up with Blizzard news and this weekend’s Blizzcon 2015, it’s quite apparent that eSports is the main focus of competitive play behind every title this company has recently launched. Overwatch has been on everyone’s mind since its first unveiling last year, as it’s Blizzard’s first real FPS (First Person Shooter). With the recent announcement of its launch in Spring 2016 (or when it’s ready), those without beta access have offered their firstborn for a chance at early practice for what’s possibly a huge future title for eSports.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have closed beta access for Overwatch, and must say that the game is absolutely everything we imagined it to be. Without a doubt, it’s one of the smoothest shooters I’ve had the chance to play. Coming from a Destiny fanatic (3 characters at 314 +), that’s a big compliment.

The real question is, can Overwatch really become a major eSports phenomenon?

Well, it’s a tossup. Here’s the deal with Overwatch, as it’s in early close beta, we don’t really have an accurate matchmaking system or any sort of ranking. The game also focuses much more on objective play victory similar to popular MOBA’s and Team Fortress, making individual stats rather inconsistent. The only important thing is getting the “W” for your team, even at the sacrifice of personal score. While it’s obviously a team strategy game, it’s also quite still dependent on the individuals’ character choices. So it’s quite possible that you may be the best Tracer in the world, if your team strategy doesn’t coincide with your play-style, you’ll have a bad time.

Aside from this, Overwatch has some serious potential to become an eSports behemoth. The game is extremely fun to watch, and already has a spectator system as we saw in last years exhibition match during Blizzcon.

For those who are still unsure about the future popularity of Overwatch have to consider the amount of money and time Blizzard Activision is putting towards this game. Without a doubt, I’m sure that the eSports team at Blizzard has been hard at work with preparation for the game’s launch. Whether it’ll become that huge next giant of competitive play like League of Legends, is yet to be realized and will heavily depend on the team in charge of matchmaking, ranking, and marketing.

If I had to grade the game early, it would get 4.5/5 Atoms, due to it’s current lack of proper matchmaking and scoring. Not to mention the strange algorithm for “Play of The Match”, and random glitches.